Jillian nodded. “I might do that—I need a break from planes, that’s for sure. Are you making time for yourself?”
Reesa laughed and blushed. “You know what I’m doing. Stop giving me a hard time about it.”
“I haven’t had to since Shane Larson’s been so willing. He looks like a hard time every time, even if the package is scary,” Jillian whispered, laughing.
Reesa threw her arms around her for a tight hug. “I love you so much, Jillian. You are the best friend ever, and Shane has been the best favor you ever did for me. Now go before I start getting weepy on you.”
“When I get back in two weeks, I’m taking vacation so I can be with you when you go back to court,” Jillian said. “Mom and Dad are ignoring me. They’re in Florida now visiting friends. I haven’t given up trying to get them to stop their crazy shit.”
“I love you for trying, but don’t let it cause a bigger rift between you and your parents,” Reesa told her, hugging her tightly.
“I like you being in my debt. You owe me so many favors now, even I’ve lost count,” Jillian said with a tinkling laugh as she went out the door.
When Reesa came back to the kitchen, Sara had one of her shoes on top of one of Shane’s.
“How many would it take if we bought a shoe for every toe?” she asked, her face beaming all the way up the two miles of giant looming over her.
“Ten,” Shane said, looking down into her serious face.
“I’ll talk to Aunt Jillian when she comes back from Meow-we,” Sara said, picking her shoe up and slipping it on her foot again.
“Maui, baby,” Reesa corrected.
“That’s what I said. Meow-we,” Sara replied earnestly.
“Thank you, Sara. It’s very nice of you to want to share your good fortune with me,” Shane told her, lifting his gaze to Reesa’s.
The words “marry me” hovered on the edge of his tongue, all but demanding to be spoken. But before he pushed that agenda any harder, he supposed he needed to tell his mother about Reesa and the kids.
She was going to think he had lost his mind, but the kids would win her eventually. His mother wanted grandchildren. Not that Michael and Carrie weren’t planning to give her some as well, but they just had to wait a year before trying again.
Shane could give her instant gratification in that area. He could give her a princess.
“Sara is a very benevolent ruler,” Shane told Reesa seriously.
“She certainly is,” Reesa said. “That’s the only kind of princess we let rule around here.”
Shane laughed at Reesa’s proud smile. She was a great role model and a loving person. Maybe she hadn’t been ready for motherhood, but she was doing a good job anyway.
Why couldn’t he learn to parent too? Then the kids would have two caring people in their lives again. If he were Michael’s age, no one, not even Reesa, would be questioning his interest in marrying her or his willingness to take on being a father figure to the kids.
But he wasn’t Michael’s age, and he wasn’t as settled and financially secure as the men Reesa had dated before him. He was just himself.
Shane fervently hoped that would prove to be enough.
Chapter 14
“About time you showed up,” Michael yelled as his brother walked into the gallery main area with a couple of strikingly attractive tall teenagers following closely on his heels. It had been almost two weeks since he’d even heard from Shane, much less seen him. Now he showed up with kids in tow like he did it every day.
Michael was covered in a layer of plaster dust. He imagined that he looked as gray as Drake Barrymore with what was in his hair.
“You look like you’re having fun playing in the dust,” Shane said, smacking his brother on the back and sending white dust flying. He listened to Zack and Chelsea laughing beside him as they fanned the white dust from the air.
“Zack and Chelsea—this dirty man is my brother, Michael Larson,” Shane said, introducing them. “Michael, this is Zack and Chelsea Lansing. They were bored with school out this afternoon so I thought some manual labor might be entertaining.”
“Dude—this was so not our idea,” Zack protested, even though he smiled at Shane while rolling his eyes.
“Yeah,” Chelsea seconded, sneaking a look at Michael. She was thinking they didn’t look much alike for brothers.
Shane put his hands on his hips, and tilted his head at the two of them. “Would you rather have gone with your aunt to the doctor and had lunch at the sandwich shop?”
“No,” they chimed together, grinning.
“So we’re going to help here today and go for pizza after. Helping the art gallery open is community service and character building. You’ll have something to brag about to your friends next week at school. I assume the walls are finished and we’re cleaning up?” Shane asked his brother.
“Yes—I think I’ve gotten the worst of it off the walls,” Michael said. “We’re into the sweeping and mopping stage, then all the surfaces will have to be wiped down.
“How did Carrie get all this done so fast?” Shane asked, looking up at the lighting and over to the now velvet-smooth plaster walls.
“I don’t know what she promised the lighting technicians, but they bring coffee to her every day. Now she’s got them wiring a media center in a conference room that she intends to use for art class presentations and to run slideshows during art shows. It boggles the mind,” Michael said.
“I bet—makes me tired just hearing about it,” Shane replied.
“Then she told me she found out the plaster guy has wanted one of Drake’s pictures for years. So as part of his payment, Carrie bought a portrait from Barrymore and is having it framed for the man,” Michael said, running a hand across his hair before he realized what he’d done. Now he was probably even grayer. “I haven’t seen my wife for more than five minutes since we bought the place, but hell, at the rate the renovation is going, it’ll be open by Halloween.”
Shane laughed, but honestly felt great admiration for his sister-in-law. “So what can we help with?”
“Grab a couple brooms and start sweeping. Make sure the dust gets put in those giant trash cans,” Michael told them, smiling when the kids walked to a pile and wrestled over picking out brooms.
“There’s painter masks in the conference room if they want respiratory protection. Good kids,” he said, watching the pleasure in Shane’s eyes as he looked at them sweeping and talking.
“Yes, they are,” Shane said, bringing his attention back to his brother. “They get along better than most teenagers, but that’s probably their survival mechanism at work. They’re hyperaware about needing each other now that their parents are gone.”
“My goodness, don’t you sound all seriously concerned. You got a real possessive gleam in your eye there too, Dr. Larson,” Michael teased. “Are your intentions altogether honorable?”
“They are until I get their aunt alone. Reesa strips the honorable right off me,” Shane said, grinning. “I’ve never been so pleased about anything in my entire life. Being with her is like winning the girlfriend lottery.”
Michael laughed. “Dad will be so proud that you’re not serial dating anymore.”
Shane grinned. “It’s more than that, Michael. I’m planning to marry her.”
Michael punched his arm playfully at the news. “Figured you’d be too territorial to enjoy playing house for very long without the ownership papers. You’re too much like Dad.”
“Hey, Michael, I’ve recruited my son Brandon to help,” Drake said, interrupting as he walked up to the men. “Hi. Sorry. Drake Barrymore. I’d shake your hand, but it would only be bad for you with what I’ve been doing today.”
“Drake—this is my brother, Shane,” Michael said. “Hi, Brandon. Thanks for coming to help again.”
Michael smiled at the kid who threw up a hand, but was watching Zack and Chelsea who hadn’t seen him yet.
“Grab a broom,” Michael invited, pointin
g at the dwindling pile, laughing when the boy took off to join the others.
“So you’re Dr. Barrymore,” Shane said. “I’ve heard about you. My stepmother thinks you’re charming.”
Drake laughed nervously. “As would any woman I mistook for her daughter.”
Shane smiled wickedly. “Well, you seem like a decent guy, so I’m not going to tell you what Brooke said about you.”
Drake sighed. “I didn’t say anything terrible to Dr. Daniels. We barely spoke.”
“You asked to paint her nude,” Shane said, grinning at the man’s obvious surprise to hear it.
“No—I mostly certainly did not,” Drake denied, laughing at the idea. He hadn’t painted a nude since his wife died. His classes did, but he didn’t. “I merely asked to paint her—period. I did not stipulate to Dr. Daniels that she had to be nude.”
Michael and Shane both laughed, but it was Shane who spoke irreverently. “Drake, regardless of what you think you said—that’s what Brooke heard. My stepsister definitely thinks that’s what you meant.”
“Well my God—you’d think a Philosopher would be a better listener,” Drake said, not sure what to do when both men laughed at him again.
“I think, therefore I am damn well sure I heard the man offer to paint me in the nude,” Michael joked, working hard not to laugh louder with Shane snickering.
“Does Dr. Daniels know you two make fun of her work behind her back?” Drake asked, giving them a look of disgust.
Both Shane and Michael nodded with the same wicked smiles on their faces.
Drake shook his head. “I’m so glad I’m older. I’m going to go find Carrie to talk about pedestals,” he said, walking off and leaving them standing.
“Man is a bit stuffy,” Shane said quietly when Drake was out of earshot.
“Not as much as it looks on first meeting. Brooke rants about him now every time anyone will listen,” Michael said, biting his cheek. “I think she’s thinking about posing nude for the man.”
“So what are you trying to do? Hook up Brooke with Barrymore?” Shane asked.
Michael shrugged. “I guess I’m trying to share the wealth of having someone in my life,” he said.
“Meaning?” Shane asked.
“That I think it would be fun to put Brooke and Drake in a box and shake them up together to see what kind of noise they make,” Michael suggested, giving in to his laughter.
“I find that idea strangely appealing, even though it’s a little mean. Do you suppose this is what it’s like to have a sister to torture?” Shane asked.
“Well, we’re all adults, so the fun is limited, but yes—I think it is,” Michael said grinning.
Shane stuck out a closed fist. “Count me in.”
Michael pounded Shane’s fist with his. “Excellent.”
***
“So you can get the Lutheran chapel in town for the ceremony and have the reception at the café where you two met,” Ellen said, swinging her crossed leg as she read from her notes, her reading glasses perched on her nose. “I spoke to Melanie and Brent and they’re delighted to host your reception. Lovely couple—I had their chicken salad. It was just as wonderful as you said, Jessica.”
Jessica looked at Will, who had his eyes closed as he sat beside her.
“Will? Are you getting cold feet now that the wedding is becoming a reality?” Jessica asked gently, shaking his arm. “I thought that was going to be my problem.”
“No—I don’t have cold feet. Do the two of you really not see anything wrong with my ex-wife arranging my next wedding?” he asked, looking between the two women who had the gall to look shocked at his question. “Fuck—this is too weird. I am not Shane with his open mind. I’m just a normal divorced man who thinks this is just plain crazy.”
Jessica and Ellen both giggled at Will’s strong swearing because they both knew what it meant. Will was way, way out of his comfort zone.
When she stopped laughing, Ellen pulled off her glasses and put them on top of her tablet.
“Are you worried about what the family thinks or about what people outside the family will think?” Ellen asked. “I really do think of us as friends now, William. Arranging your wedding is fun for me. I’m actually thinking I might like doing this sort of thing for a business. It’s so much more appealing than teaching, even at the college level. You’re the one who told me I needed to find something productive to do.”
Will looked at Ellen and just blinked in disbelief. So this farce is my fault? No way in hell. “I don’t care what you do for a living. I’m just not comfortable with—this,” he said firmly, sweeping his hand around to include the three of them.
“I understand it’s unconventional,” Ellen said reasonably, fighting not to smile at his exasperated frown. “Jessica, stop laughing. Will is very old fashioned about some things. You need to get used to this side of him.”
“Oh for. . .this is some crazy shit,” Will said, jumping up to pace, unable to listen to his ex-wife lecturing his future wife on treating him well. He ran a hand over his head, surprised for the first time in months to be missing his hair. “I am not old fashioned. I’m normal—damn it. You two are the weird ones here.”
Jessica reached out and snagged his hand, using it to drag Will back onto Ellen’s sofa with her.
“Sit. Stay. We are not twenty-year-old children, William Larson. I’d rather have Ellen do this than pay some stranger who doesn’t have a real clue about who we are and what we want. I’m not good at this sort of thing. Ellen is a woman who knows how to get things like this done, and it will be just as nice as you’ve been hoping,” Jessica said, clamping a firm hand on his leg to hold him in place next to her.
“You know this will be going into Shane’s damn book, and yet you’re doing it anyway,” he said ominously to both grinning women.
“Think of how well taken care of we’ll all be with a rich and famously published son in our old age,” Ellen said, smiling.
Will snorted. “Not if Shane’s going to be putting four kids through college in the next ten years,” he said sharply.
Jessica’s eyes got huge and Will winced when he saw her expression. Oh shit—here we go, he thought, angry at himself now for bringing up something he’d promised himself that he wasn’t going to debate with Ellen.
Not understanding the look she saw exchanged between Will and Jessica, Ellen laughed and shrugged. “Get real, Will. Shane will be forty and as bald as you before he ever settles down enough to even think about starting a family,” she said, smiling. “We’ll be lucky to get even one grandchild out of him. I think he loves women too much to ever fall for just one.”
“Damn it,” Will said, rubbing his chin. “He hasn’t told you, has he?”
“Uh oh, Dad—you blew that secret all to hell,” Jessica declared, smiling at Will’s flushed face and his glare at her pronouncement.
“What secret?” Ellen said. “What are you two snickering about?”
“I’m going to kill Shane for this,” Will said to Jessica, who only laughed more.
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees to hold out his hands in front of him. “Now Ellen, hear the whole story before you start getting upset. Shane said he was going to tell you. I guess he just hasn’t had time.”
Tucking her laughter away, Jessica went over and sat on the arm of Ellen’s chair and put her arm around the woman for support.
Ellen looked up at Jessica. “I’m not going to like this story, am I?”
“I’m not sure about the story, but I think you’re going to love being a grandmother,” Jessica said, smiling softly as Ellen closed her eyes.
“Shane’s dating a woman with a child already, isn’t he?” Ellen wailed, guessing the worst truth she could imagine.
Jessica laughed and hugged her again. It didn’t make Ellen feel one bit better. “Oh God—well, I suppose it was going to happen eventually with one of the boys,” she continued, her imagination throwing images up of Shane as a child himself.
Ellen clasped her hands tightly to keep them from quivering. “Lots of women have a child by the time they’re twenty-five. Lord knows, it wouldn’t have been my first choice for Shane, as immature as he still is, but I can deal a child. So tell me everything—is the girl nice? Do you two like her? Have you met the child? It’s not a baby is it? That would be so hard on a new relationship.”
Jessica hugged her and held tighter. “No—I haven’t met Reesa yet, but Will has, and well—let’s let him tell you the story.”
Will took a deep breath and began. He cursed his youngest when Ellen started crying before he got the first sentence out of his mouth.
Leaving her perch on Ellen’s chair, Jessica retrieved a box of tissues from the bedroom and held Ellen’s hand while Will answered her questions as best as he could.
Chapter 15
Carrie pulled up in front of the house and double-checked the address. She thought she remembered the mini-van, but wasn’t completely sure. Memorizing vehicle ownership had never been one of her skills. She really hoped Reesa was home because she needed to hire help soon. If she didn’t, it was going to hold her back from opening the gallery by Thanksgiving.
When she walked up to the door, she was startled to have Reesa come swinging out of it in a hurry, dressed in an expensive suit, strutting on three inch heels, and wearing full face makeup. It was all Carrie could do not to say “wow”. The woman was tiny, but looking hot in full business woman mode.
“Hi, Reesa. Looks like I’ve come at a really bad time,” Carrie noted when Reesa finished locking the door and turned to her in surprise. Evidently, Reesa had been too preoccupied to see her walk up.
“Oh, shoot—Carrie, right? Yes. I’m heading to a job interview. I have to pick Sara up at school and drop her at the counselor before. What did you need? Or were you just stopping by to visit?” Reesa walked to her van, and Carrie tagged along because there was no other choice really. The tiny business woman was on the move.
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